I want to welcome you to our first meeting of the year. Our meeting will be this coming Thursday, January 7th, from 6-8 PM at the West Regional Library on Grelot road. Happy New Year everybody!
This month we will be doing a Speed Critique!
Members and non-members alike are welcome to join us for Speed Critiquing. Bring one page (the first is the best option) or up to thirty-five lines of poetry, double spaced, with traditional formatting guidelines (Times New Roman, 12 pt font and 1” margins.) We will read each others page and trade ideas in a fast-paced, friendly atmosphere. You only need 1 copy, and a notebook or sheet of paper to take notes of what people have to say about it.
Please remember to bring cash or check to renew your membership and for our new donation raffle. Remember, tickets will be $1 each and you may buy more than one. This month the book we will be raffling is "Write, Publish, Repeat: The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success” by Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant. This is an excellent novel for authors considering Self-Publishing or have already began their Self-Publishing adventure. It is an excellent read with facts about Traditional vs Self-Publishing. It talks about writing fast and how important it is to build your catalog. It takes about creating a funnel for your readers, and different ways to market. There is strong language in this book, but don’t let that stop you from getting a copy, take a sharpie and cross out the bad language words, it is worth the read. I will speak a bit about it at the start of the meeting, and if you are interested in it please buy a few raffle tickets to see if you can win it. Remember, the donations for these tickets are going to our Mobile Writers Guild cards, the cost of the books, and to help us bring a New York Times Bestselling author to Mobile.
Remember, this year we are recording all of our meetings. If you are a member and missed a meeting or want to go back and listen to one of our meetings, you can get the private address from us where you can do that. We also have most of the audios from last season as well if you want to go back and listen to any of them.
Our Critique groups have started. Our meetings times will change this next month due to me starting nightshift at work. We have created a private Facebook group as well as email for all of us to stay connected. If you are interested, we have a signup list at our meeting.
Special Member Opportunity
Our arrangement with the Urban Emporium in downtown Mobile is up and running! Here are the details: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Urban Emporium, a retail shop on Dauphin Street in their Mobile Makers section. Urban Emporium will take 25% of the sale price, and 2.5% for credit card transactions. If the organization sells less than $100/month, the fee MWG pays per month is $7.50. If we sell over $100, the fee is $15. They are open 6 days a week, plus during special events. They encourage we come during art walks with a table set up outside (No Peddlers license required). They are located on dauphin street downtown near between Bienville Square and Cathedral Plaza.
Our arrangement with Mobile Bookseller is up and running! Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Mobile Bookseller. Mobile Bookseller will take 40% of the sale price. There will be no monthly fees. Please bring some book flyers/postcards for the short shelves on the rack we donated them for the short shelves. (3 copies of each of your books recommended for in store). They are located in the Skyland Shopping Center off Government & Azeala in the corner. Their store is stilled labled as, “Book Rack.”
I have also talked with Bienville Books about selling our local author books there. We are able to go through there as well, you will have to contact me for more details about that. They pay 60% of the cover price, making them keep 40%. They can’t hold too many copies, I would suggest 1-2. And they will sale them for the cover price, you can’t upcharge them there. They are located on Dauphin ST downtown near Bienville Square.
I have been communicating with Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama. We are able to sell our books there. They keep 45% of the list price and the author gets 55%. I am still getting information and correspondence from them and will let you know more information about getting in there in the near future. They have to be priced at list price, they cannot be overpriced. They are located in Fairhope on the corner of De la Mare St & S Section St.
We also have the opportunity to donate our books to the Mobile Public Library. They suggest only 1 copy and that it should be stocked at their West Regional Branch as it has the most traffic. However, you can specify which branch you want your book in. Get with me for more information about it if you are interested.
These are stupendous opportunity to showcase members' books. To participate, you must be a current member, and pay an additional fee of $15/year to help us pay the rental space at the store. If you are interested, please bring up to eight copies of your book(s) to the meeting and your checkbook. We will also need an electronic copy of your author bio and photo--please send to [email protected]. We also have gold “Autographed Copy” stickers that we ordered to put on all of our books that we take to these stores. So if you participate talk with me about getting stickers on your books & you signing them.
Member News:
Our Vice-President, Carrie Dalby Cox’s novel Fortitude is Nominated for the 2015 Whitney Award. Her paperback edition of Fortitude released, January 5th, 2016.
Our President, Craig A. Price Jr., has recently accepted a contract for an audiobook through ACX for his novel The Crimson Claymore to be completed by the end of February 2016.
Our Secretary, Joyce Scarbrough, will be the guest speaker for the Baldwin Writers Group meeting at the Daphne library on Saturday, January 16 at 10:00 am. Her topic will be writing fight scenes without descending into melodrama.
Dee Jordan’s novel, In and Out of Madness, reached #5 in fiction suspense during her e-book giveaway.
Barbara Vogel Paper had success with a few local book sales for her non-fiction novel, Moon Flyers: A Family Memoir: Coping With Mental Illness, where she lives now in Tennessee at McKay’s Book Store and Catoosa Country Georgia Fall Festival. In a few weeks she will participate in a similar event at the Coffee County Public Library in Manchester, TN.
Angela Quarles’ novel Steam Me Up, Rawley was awarded Best Self-Published Romance of 2015 by LibraryJournal.
We will have a box of writing magazines by the back table that were donated to us, feel free to grab any that interest you.
We hope to see everybody there, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone once again.
Remember to bring snacks for the group if you can, we will have snacks in the back.
Bring copies of your books as well to put on our display table – who knows, you may sell a copy.
Join us at:
West Regional Library
5555 Grelot Rd,
Mobile, AL 36609
(251) 340-8555
6-8 PM in the meeting room on January 7th.
See you there!
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President
Mobile Writers Guild
2015-2016